


The Opposite of a Fake Relationship

by Bronzeflower



Category: My Time At Portia (Video Game)
Genre: Flying Pig!Arlo, Future Fic, I feel the need to specify that Arlo is a part of the Flying Pigs in this fic, M/M, Married Couple, Miscommunication, Reverse Fake Relationship, Sparring, The Flying Pigs, There is no miscommunication in the marriage, Yeah I named my kids Sam and Remi what are you gonna do about it, but like funny
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:22:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22973974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bronzeflower/pseuds/Bronzeflower
Summary: Victor is commissioned by the Flying Pigs to build an expansion to the headquarters. He is introduced to Arlo as if they had never met, and they roll with it, pretending that they haven't been married for 10+ years, leading to some misunderstandings among some of the Flying Pigs members.
Relationships: Arlo/Builder (My Time At Portia), Arlo/Male Builder (My Time At Portia)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 41





	1. The "Introduction"

**Author's Note:**

> So Mali doesn't actually appear until much later so that she doesn't ruin the surprise immediately, but I have many ocs to populate the Flying Pigs. Well, I have five: Barin, Aureall, Helene, Lyla, and Jared. You will meet all of them within the first three chapters. I hope you enjoy their dynamics because I certainly enjoyed writing their dynamics

“The Flying Pigs commissioned me for a few major renovations to their headquarters. Looks like I’m gonna be seeing a lot more of you at work,” Victor informed. “Which means you’re gonna be all serious and authority-like.”

“I have a reputation to keep,” Arlo insisted, and Victor giggled and squished Arlo’s cheeks.

“Yeah, but the moment you look at me, you go all soft and adorable,” Victor’s point was proven immediately by Arlo looking at him with utter adoration. “Everyone’s gonna know we’re married the moment they see us together in any capacity.”

“They have more important things to worry about than my marital status.”

“Sure they do.” Victor gave Arlo a quick kiss. “I’ll see you later today if everything goes well. Make sure the kids get to school safe and on time.”

“Like they’d allow for us to be late by even a minute,” Arlo joked. “Remi has started to a big stickler about what time they actually arrive at school. She said, and I quote, ‘They have to be there at 7:40 at the latest otherwise they’ll die.’”

“She’s always been dramatic.”

“Dad! We’re going to be late!” Remi yelled. “Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!”

“I’m coming!” Arlo responded. “Bye, darling.”

“Bye, bye,” Victor kissed Arlo again, and he smiled as he heard Sam complain about how school started at 8:00, so there was no way they were going to be late, with Remi reminding him that death would imminent if they were, so it was always best to be early to avoid even the possibility.

Victor didn’t know where Remi got the idea that she and her brother would die if they were even a minute late to school, but it got them out of bed in the morning, so he supposed it was an improvement on Remi and Sam refusing to even acknowledge the world when it was early.

After waving off his husband and kids, it was time for Victor to get to work. This was a big commission, and there were a lot of materials to gather.

Of course, the Flying Pigs would never dumb down on defense, so Victor ended up feeling like he was gathering materials for making reinforcements rather than an entire expansion to the building.

It took about a week for Victor to gather and craft all the materials he needed, even with the materials he already had, but he had finally done it, and, for that, he was glad.

Now, all that was left was bringing the materials over to the Flying Pigs to get started on the expansion.

Victor was giddy, excited to build and excited to see his husband at his workplace.

But, of course, Victor had to get through security first, which was stringent for good reason. Regardless, Victor managed to get in, and someone showed up to bring him to where he was building the expansion.

His name was Barin, and he was weirdly nervous, but he was generally friendly and pointed out things and people they came across.

“Th-that over there is Arlo,” Barin pointed towards where Arlo was training with other Flying Pigs members. “You’ve probably he-heard of him. He’s one of the strongest folks over, over here.”

“So are you going to introduce me?” Victor asked kind of as a joke, but Barin frantically nodded and awkwardly tried to get Arlo’s attention.

“Arlo, e-excuse me,” Barin had his arms out slightly, as if warding off anything that would try and hurt him.

A girl with long black hair that was set in a ponytail looked up from her stretches to glare towards Barin before turning her head towards Arlo.

“Arlo!” She barked. “There’s some new kid in here!”

Arlo looked over, and Victor grinned at him, waving hello.

“Y-yes, this is the builder who’s g-going to be working on the new expansion,” Barin explained. “So-sorry, I forgot your name. What was it again?”

“Victor! Victor of the Victory Workshop. It’s good to meet you,” Victor threw Arlo a wink, and he didn’t miss the way Arlo’s mouth turned up slightly.

“Arlo, member of the Flying Pigs.”

Victor and Arlo shook hands, and Victor gave Arlo a challenging grin.

“Barin over here was telling me how you were one of the strongest folks in this joint. Care to demonstrate?”

Barin looked absolutely mortified while the girl with the long ponytail let out a loud laugh.

“I like this kid! Name’s Aureall. Good to meet you.”

“I’ve got a least a decade on you, Aureall,” Victor pointed out, but Aureall didn’t really seem to care, so he focused his attention back on Arlo. “So, what do you say? How’s a sparring match between men?”

“Don’t you have an expansion to build?” Arlo said in what probably sounded like his usual serious voice to others, but Victor could detect the hint of amusement in there.

“Just one sparring match. One minute. No weapons,” Victor laid out their typical sparring rules. “I’ve got the time.”

“Are you sure? I don’t hold back, and I wouldn’t want to leave you incapable of doing your job,” Arlo teased, and Victor found himself laughing.

“Lucky for you, I don’t hold back either,” Victor got into a subtle fighting stance. “I’d be offended if you did.”

“A-Arlo! Pl-please don’t spar him!” Barin begged. “He’s just a builder-I-I doubt he can go up against you without getting hurt!”

“If you’re worried, I can spar you first,” Victor suggested. “I think you’re a lot stronger than you let on.”

“No sparring!” Barin demanded, and Aureall protested.

“I wanna see Arlo kick some nobody’s butt.”

“Don’t assume someone’s strength before you fight them,” Arlo advised. “That’s a good way to lose.”

“Does that mean you’ll accept?”

“Don’t hold back,” Arlo got into a fighting stance, and Victor’s grin turned manic.

“Like I’d ever.”

Victor was very familiar with Arlo’s moveset, and he wondered if it was obvious from watching them spar that he knew exactly when to move to avoid getting hit and where exactly to aim for to do the most damage.

Of course, the same could be said for Arlo, and it was a hard battle full of blocking and dodging and landing hits. Victor was pretty sure Arlo was trying even harder than usual in an attempt to look good in front of his coworkers.

However, in the end, Victor was merciless and managed to be victorious.

“Thanks for the sparring match!” Victor declared. “Maybe we could do a rematch sometime, but I’ve got work to do now. Hey, Barin, show me the rest of the way.”

Victor left, and Arlo couldn’t help but watch him as he left the area. It felt a little weird to say goodbye without exchanging at least one kiss, if not more, but, then again, this place wasn’t exactly the most appropriate area for PDA.

“Wow, in love already?” Aureall teased. “Didn’t strike you as a man who believed in love at first sight.”

“I don’t,” Arlo shook his head.

“That was an impressive battle,” Helene spoke up. “I kind of want to spar him myself now…”

“Me too!” Aureall agreed. “Next time he rears his head around here, I’m gonna beat him up so hard!”

“You sound like a school bully,” Helene said. “And besides, what makes you think that you can beat him? Even Arlo lost against him.”

“He only sparred Arlo!” Aureall claimed. “And weren’t you considering sparring him too? Why get into a fight that you’re so sure you’ll lose?”

“He had an interesting fighting style. I want to see it up close.”

“Why don’t you stop talking about him and get back to training?” Arlo interrupted, back to being serious.

“What, jealous?” Aureall joked, but she and Helene got back to work after a glare from Arlo.

Arlo and Victor talked about what happened that day when Arlo got back from work.

“We should probably tell them that we’re married,” Arlo suggested.

“But, consider this, it’s hilarious to make them think we’ve never met before,” Victor countered with a grin. “And it’s not like it’s interfering with anything.”

“I won’t deny that it’s amusing, but it is a little on the unethical side.”

“We can always just say that we wanted to stay professional in the workplace,” Victor pointed out. “You know, for when people do find out. But I wanna see how long it takes people to do so in the first place.”

“I guess it would be a good lesson in observation,” Arlo reasoned. “Alright. So what’s the plan?”

“We interact with each other relatively normally, with the exception that we will be keeping everything workplace appropriate.”

“Sparring me wasn’t exactly workplace appropriate.”

“Of course it is! It’s the Flying Pigs!”

“Aureall and Helene really want to spar you now,” Arlo mentioned, and Victor smiled.

“Tell them I’ll spar with them next time I see them. It’ll be on sight.”

“You should give them more warning than that.”

“Maybe, especially if we wanna keep up the idea that we don’t know each other outside of work.”

“Aureall already thinks that it was love at first sight.”

“Oh my god, that’s so funny,” Victor laughed. “But not that too far off. We pretty much got married as soon as we had the downtime. And now we’ve been married for, what? Almost ten years?”

“I think I lost count after the fifth year.”

“Honestly, me too,” Victor nodded. “But I don’t think I’ll ever forget how I fell for you.”

“Yeah, and how did you fall for me?” Arlo asked even though he almost certainly knew.

“When you asked me to join you in training for the Flying Pigs and had me run all around Portia for a week,” Victor started. “And you told me about your dream of joining the Flying Pigs, and that’s when I fell for you.”

“Liar,” Arlo poked Victor, and he laughed.

“You’re right, I fell for you when we were eating at the Round Table, and I made you laugh so hard that milk came out of your nose.”

“Maybe it’s a good thing we’re keeping our relationship from the Flying Pigs. You have to avoid telling that story to everyone you meet.”

“Oh my god, you’re right. Now I can’t decide what’s better - fooling everyone into thinking we’ve never met before or embarrassing the hell out of you with terrible stories. Whatever shall I do?”

“You can wait until people figure out we’re married.”

“You’re a genius, and I love you.”

“Love you too, darling.”

“Dad! I’m hungry!” Sam came clamoring in just as Arlo was leaning down for a kiss. “Ew. You’re being gross.”

Sam stuck his tongue out, and Victor let out a soft laugh as he pulled away from Arlo.

“Well, my dear and beloved child, what would you like for dinner?” Victor asked. “We’ve got the ingredients for seafood noodles or for bamboo papaya and seafood with rice.”

“Hmm,” Sam thought very seriously. “Noodles. Oh! And can we have some stewed mushrooms?”

“Of course!” Victor responded. “Would you like to help me prepare our meal? And ask your sister if she’d like to help as well.”

Sam nodded and left to go inform Remi of how it was time to start making dinner.

“Alright, babe, the children demand sacrifice, so I’ve got to go.”

“When are you gonna stop calling dinner sacrifice?”

“Never.”

Victor swept at Arlo’s leg to knock him slightly off balance and kissed him once Arlo was low enough.

“I regret you becoming friends with Sam and Remington,” Arlo stated when the kiss was over.

“They’re your friends too,” Victor responded. “But, anyway, the children are hungry, and they’ve got to eat, and so do we.”

“I’ll join you in cooking this time,” Arlo offered, and Victor smiled.

“Sure, we’ll have the whole family cooking together. Make sure Remi uses the knife safely. I’m gonna put Sam on stewing duty.”

Cooking dinner was generally chaotic, with Sam getting impatient often with waiting for the food to cook, Remi generally not have a great idea of knife safety, and Arlo simply not being all that great of a cook, but, in the end, they made something delicious, and they had a lovely dinner together.


	2. The Inspection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright, so i still haven't finished the last chapter of victor's victory, but i promise y'all i'll get it out by next week. for now, have the next chapter of this fic!

“That builder we hired sure is fast,” Lyla stared towards where the expansion was, which had basically doubled in size from the last time Arlo got a look at it.

“You should see him fight,” Arlo said, and Lyla looked over at him in bewilderment, but quickly schooled her expression into something more neutral.

“That kind of skill will be useful when we need builders on expeditions,” Lyla stated. “Last time, the builder we took with us could throw a punch, and they ended up slowing us down more than helping us.”

“Yesh,” Arlo sympathized. Typically builders refused to go on expeditions if they didn’t have any fighting skills, but he supposed some would think it’s fine because they have Flying Pigs members there.

He could imagine how worrisome and annoying it would be if he went on an adventure with someone he was just trying to protect the entire time if it wasn’t supposed to be an escort mission.

“Anyway, I’m going to check on the expansion to make sure the foundation is steady,” Lyla announced. “The speed in which it’s being built is concerning, especially since the workshop is made up of only a single builder. Could you come with me for assistance in checking for defects? Another pair of eyes will be useful.”

“Of course,” Arlo responded. He would be offended on behalf of his husband that he would put in anything less than his best work, but he understood Lyla’s concern. Besides, he was confident there wouldn’t be a single defect to be found.

When they arrived, Arlo saw Victor near the top of the expansion. There were a few seconds of loud noises coming from Victor banging his hammer before Victor practically jumped down the wall concerningly quickly, even as he grabbed a few key areas built up as temporary supports to slow his descent.

Victor rolled as he made contact with the ground in a maneuver that Arlo knew was designed for taking minimal damage when falling from higher places.

Victor stood up, brushed himself off, and when he turned, he noticed Arlo and Lyla there.

“Hello!” Victor smiled widely and waved. “Came to check on how the expansion’s doing?”

“Yes,” Lyla answered bluntly. “As per Flying Pigs regulations, we must make sure that all expansions are suitable for our standards.”

“I appreciate your concern, but I can guarantee you that these walls are as sturdy as I can make them!” Victor banged on the wall to demonstrate. “Feel free to search for defects. You won’t find any.”

“You’re cocky,” Lyla criticized. 

“If you want to prove me wrong, you’re going to have to find a defect,” Victor challenged, and Arlo immediately felt the need to rise to the challenge. “If you find one, I’ll renounce the job and get you someone better. If you don’t, I’d like a sparring match with you.”

“With me?” Lyla questioned, a calculating expressing painting her features.

“Yeah, I’ve already sparred with hot stuff over here,” Victor pointed a thumb towards Arlo, and Arlo barely registered the fact that Victor called him ‘hot stuff,’ if only because Victor called him that with relative frequency.

Lyla was clearly somewhat caught off guard by the flirtatious name, but she accepted Victor’s terms.

Victor went back to work to allow them to start their inspect, and Lyla turned towards Arlo.

“Was he really flirting with you?”

“I hope so,” Arlo answered, more in the context of that was his husband, and he hoped that Victor wasn’t flirting with anyone else, but Lyla took it very differently.

“Really? I didn’t expect you to be into someone so…” Lyla thought for a moment. “Unprofessional.”

“He’s just friendly,” Arlo suggested, staring at the wall in an effort to search for any cracks or weak spots.

“He challenged me to a sparring match and called you hot stuff,” Lyla pointed out, kicking the wall with all her might. As Arlo expected, it did not budge or dent or crack even the slightest degree. “That’s not exactly what I would call friendly behavior.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s just how he is. He challenged me to a sparring match when I first met him too,” Arlo said, and he didn’t even lie about that. Yeah, his ‘first’ meeting with Victor in the Flying Pigs was characterized by Victor saying that he wanted a sparring match, but it was also one of the first things Victor said to Arlo back in Portia.

“He hasn’t even been here that long. Get that lovestruck expression off your face,” Lyla ordered, and Arlo didn’t even realize the face he was making while remembering his first meeting with Victor.

“Right.”

Lyla ran her hand over the areas she kicked to see if she knocked up any kind of dust or made any minuscule cracks, but, each and every single time, the wall was still just as perfect.

“I’m gonna have to break through the ceiling to find something to complain about in this place,” Lyla grumbled, and Arlo glanced up to where there was very obviously no ceiling yet.

“You’re gonna have to wait for the ceiling to be built first,” Arlo responded, and Lyla leveled him with a glare.

“I did not ask for your input.”

“You asked me for help in uncovering weak points.”

“I think the only weak point here is you, given how soft you got for this builder in just a few days,” Lyla criticized, but, luckily Arlo was saved from responding to that when Victor interjected into their conversation.

“How’s the inspection going? Find any defects yet?” Victor inquired, smiley and confident as ever.

“No,” Lyla answered. “I hope you’re ready to lose this sparring match.”

“It’s been a while since I’ve lost,” Victor shifted into a fighting stance, and after a breath, the match began.

Now, Arlo was the kind of person who preferred being in a fight rather than outside of it, but he had to admit that it was impressive to see Victor’s form from a distance rather than from up close.

Of course, Lyla was also impressive, as all Flying Pigs members were, but Arlo was so used to moving and reacting along with Victor in a fight that it was strange to stand so still.

Victor won because of course he did, and Lyla shook his hand as she accepted her defeat.

“Maybe I’ll challenge you to a rematch at some point,” Lyla spoke, and Victor grinned.

“That’d be great! I always love meeting new people to spar with!” Victor retracted the statement slightly. “Well, ones that can keep up with me to any degree.”

“Same here,” Lyla agreed. “Good work on the expansion.”

“Well, I haven’t finished it quite yet,” Victor responded. “We can always do a repeat of our bet whenever.”

“Alright,” Lyla nodded. “Someone needs to make sure you’re doing your job correctly.”

“That extends to you too, darling,” Victor directed to comment towards Arlo. “If you can’t find a defect, we have a sparring match.”

“I’ll take you up on that,” Arlo answered. “Does this time count?”

“Of course it does!” Victor said, and Victor and Arlo immediately started the match after Victor’s confirmation.

Arlo tried out a couple new tricks, but so did Victor. In fact, Arlo even caught sight of a few of Aureall’s moves, and he wondered who else Victor had been sparring against.

“Are you just asking everyone you meet to spar with you?” Arlo questioned after he thoroughly got his butt kicked, and Victor got a slightly sheepish grin.

“I’m in a building full of renowned fighters. How could I possibly resist?”

“And how many times have you sparred with Aureall?” Arlo inquired.

“As many times as she challenged me!” Victor declared, and Arlo knew with how Aureall tended to be that she had challenged Victor many times. At least enough to pick up some of her moveset.

“You really shouldn’t accept all of her challenges,” Lyla advised. “She has a job to do, and, if she’s sparring you, she’s not doing it.”

“It was during her break,” Victor countered. “Speaking of which, mine is over. Thanks for the sparring matches!”

With that, Victor turned heel and returned to the top of the walls he was building, clearing the wall in a matter of seconds.

“I didn’t expect you to be into someone who could defeat you so easily,” Lyla mirrored her words from earlier. “Although I suppose it means you can worry less about their general wellbeing.”

“He can prove himself in a fight, but I don’t think he’s using any kind of safety harness when going up and down that wall,” Arlo pointed out, and, indeed, Victor was just going free and standing in very precarious ways while doing so.

“Okay, yeah, that’s concerning to watch.”

Lyla and Arlo just took a moment to stare at Victor working. Victor glanced over to them and waved wildly, and Arlo awkwardly waved back.

“Let’s get back to work,” Lyla announced, so they did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you know, after i finish this fic, I'll start work on a fic about Victor's time in portia


	3. The Lunch Table

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boom. Chapter

“So,” Jared announced as everyone sat down for lunch. “We finally have some good gossip in the guild.”

“Don’t let the Captain here you say that,” Lyla mentioned, and Jared waved her off.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. More importantly,” Jared looked directly towards Arlo. “There’s a romance blooming in the workplace, and I must say, it wasn’t a pairing I expected at all.”

“Why are you looking at me?” Arlo questioned, and Aureall got this intense expression on her face.

“That Victor kid!” Aureall declared. “And his blatant flirting! You haven’t even said anything about it!”

“There’s also the way you look at him,” Helene pointed out.

“And here I thought you were married to your work,” Lyla said.

“And _I_ thought you would choose someone a bit more on the serious side,” Jared mentioned. “But Victor is one of the most cheerful people I’ve ever met.”

“Classic case of opposites attract,” Aureall crossed her arms definitely.

“I-I’m surprised you’re taking such an interest in this, Aureall” Barin spoke. “You don’t re-really seem the type.”

“Shut it!” Aureall flushed. “I can like romance if I want to!”

“No one sa-said you couldn’t,” Barin retorted, and Jared interrupted before the conversation could go any further.

“More importantly is that Arlo over here doesn’t seem to be reciprocating the flirting that Victor is doing, and we can’t be having that.”

“Jared, I’m not gonna flirt with him while I’m at work,” Arlo pointed out, only to get stares.

“So you mean you _would_ flirt with him otherwise?” Jared questioned with a gleam in his eyes.

“Somehow I have a difficult time imagining Arlo flirting,” Aureall thought.

“He’s terrible at it,” Helene said bluntly.

“How do you know?” Arlo questioned. She was right, but still.

“I don’t, but I doubt I’m wrong,” Helene answered. “We’d be better off shoving them in a closet together than getting Arlo to take any initiative.”

“Now there’s an idea,” Jared was clearly thinking deeply.

“Wait!” Barin yelled out. “You’re not ac-actually planning on trying to get them together, are you!? That’s, that’s to-totally unprofessional!”

“I agree,” Lyla announced. “Victor’s flirting is bad enough. There’s no reason to attempt to make it worse.”

“It won’t make it worse!” Jared argued. “If anything, it’ll make things better! Victor won’t have a reason to flirt relentlessly anymore, and Arlo will stop pining after him even though he’s clearly interested. Besides, Arlo’s way too professional to allow a relationship to get in the way of his work. He’d put a stop to any flirting the moment they got together.”

Arlo did Not think about how he pulled Victor into a closet to make out because he couldn’t stand not kissing him for a second longer. It was a miracle they weren’t caught, and they only stopped because of Victor.

“He could do that now,” Lyla argued. “How do we know they wouldn’t just go off into some closet to make out once they’re together?”

Arlo steeled his face as much as he could.

“Please, for all the time I’ve known Arlo, he hasn’t shown even an inkling of being interested in that sort of thing,” Aureall insisted.

“He is,” Helene said.

“Who’s side are you on, Helene?” Aureall yelled, and Helene smiled and shrugged.

“Well, I’m on Barin and Lyla’s side,” Arlo said. “There’s no reason you should be interfering with any relationships I may have.”

Given the look Aureall and Jared got, Arlo highly doubted they were going to stand by and do nothing.

And he was correct in his assumptions when he found Victor dressing up slightly better a few days later.

“Got a date tonight?” Arlo joked, and Victor chuckled.

“Obviously,” Victor rolled his eyes. “He’s quite the catch, you know. Tall, a redhead, and a member of the Flying Pings.”

“Is there a chance that this man is _also_ your beloved husband?”

“Yes, there is a chance that this man is my beloved and darling husband,” Victor responded. Arlo smiled into the kiss they shared. “But, seriously, I expected Jared to start out pretty overt in his matchmaking, but instead he’s trying to convince me to dress up for you like I don’t do that already.”

“Is that why he’s been talking with you so much lately?”

“Yeah, although I’m not sure he’ll agree about my idea of what ‘dressed up’ is.”

“Yeah, I doubt it,” Arlo agreed. “You know, one day you’re gonna be forced to wear a suit.”

“I would say over my dead body, but if my corpse is put into a suit, I’m gonna haunt the shit out of whoever made that decision.”

“Don’t you wanna get cremated?”

“It’s the principal of the matter,” Victor shrugged. “Are you ready to prepare our gremlin children for school?”

“They’re not gremlins.”

“You can ask them yourself. Sam, in particular, is proud of his gremlinness,” Victor said. “Anyway, go wake the children. I’m going to prepare them a sacrifice.”

“Stop calling mealtimes sacrifices.”

“Offerings.”

“Still not great, but better.”

With that, they got the children ready, and Arlo dropped Sam and Remi off at school before going into work.

“Arlo, could you help me with something?” Jared questioned.

“What do you need?”

“Just need some extra muscle to move something,” Jared said.

There was something very suspicious about the encounter, but Arlo went with Jared anyway.

Soon enough, the two of them ran into Victor and Aureall, and then Aureall and Jared were locking Victor and Arlo into a closet.

Now, if this had happened to Arlo when he first got a crush on Victor, he’d be embarrassed, but, as it was, he was just enjoying the closeness he had.

“Holy shit, this is so cliche!” Victor laughed.

“I thought they would do something more subtle than just shoving us into a closet,” Arlo said. “You know, like convincing you to dress more nicely.”

“Jared took one look at my outfit and decided they needed to resort to drastic measures,” Victor reasoned. “Besides, they think you’re the most oblivious person in the world.” 

“I’m just professional.”

“Sure, professional,” Victor teased. He grabbed ahold of Arlo’s bandana to force him to lean down as Victor brought Arlo into a kiss before letting go. “Alright, so they may have locked us in here, but they did _not_ take away my tools, so, if you give me a minute, I can get us out real quick.”

“Could I get another kiss first?”

“I mean, it’d be a shame to waste an excuse to kiss my husband,” Victor said, and he pulled Arlo into another kiss. “Just one more.”

Victor kissed Arlo a third time, and they finally parted, with Victor grabbing a few tools to fiddle with the doorknob.

Like Victor promised, the door opened very quickly, and they were able to get back to their respective jobs.

And, of course, Aureall and Jared received a scolding from Lyla during lunch about their actions.

“How could you tell on us, Arlo?” Jared dramatically whined, and Lyla was quick to correct him.

“Victor was the one who told me. I guess he’s not a big fan of your interventions.”

“One sec, I gotta go fight Victor,” Aureall announced, but she was quickly stopped by Arlo.

“You already spar with him plenty. Just sit down and finish eating.”

Lyla continued telling off Aureall and Jared, which hopefully meant that the two of them would mind their own business. 

Afterward, Lyla spoke with Arlo.

“You know, I’m surprised Victor would want to put a stop to their shenanigans. He’s been flirting pretty relentlessly with you. You’d think he’d appreciate the help.”

“Victor doesn’t want to make anyone feel uncomfortable, so he’s a big proponent of consent,” Arlo explained.

“Why do you know that?”

“He asked me if I was uncomfortable with his flirting and said he would stop if it did.”

“But he still flirts with you?” Lyla questioned before the realization occurred to her. “Wait, but aren’t you dating him then? Since you’re both clearly interested.”

“I thought you didn’t want to be caught up in my romantic affairs.”

“I, well,” Lyla went pink. “I have an interest in the happiness of my coworkers, and you seem...happier when you’re with Victor.”

“Do I now?” Arlo asked, scratching the back of his head for a moment. He knew he was obvious in how much he loved Victor, but he didn’t think it was _that_ noticeable.

“I still refuse to intervene,” Lyla specified. “But maybe you should ask him out a date or something?”

“I might just do that,” Arlo grinned slightly. “Although maybe I won’t tell Jared or Aureall as a joke.”

“I didn’t expect you to be the type of person to do something like that.”

“Then let’s just say it’s for the sake of professionalism.”

“Then I won’t say anything either when you do ask him out.”

“I’ve actually, kind of, already done so?” Arlo admitted. “There’s a concert happening tomorrow night for a band he likes, and, well, I have tickets.”

“How do you know what bands he likes?” Lyla interrogated.

“You’ve been in there while he works. He’s always singing stuff under his breath.”

“That wasn’t even something I noticed.”

“Oh,” Arlo blushed slightly. “Well, anyway. Don’t tell anyone, alright?”

“You have my word.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wonder what's gonna be happening next, i say, like i haven't already written half of the next chapter

**Author's Note:**

> Anyway, I haven't finished writing the last chapter of Victor's Victory, so you get the first chapter of this fic instead. I'll post chapter either next week or the week after depending on how much time I have


End file.
